The Truth Surfaces
by Impala-Girl-19
Summary: Booth admits his feelings, with a few bumps along the way...please review, my second FanFic!I changed Brennans name for a friend am trying to change it back!


'Ah, _geez!'_

'Are you ok?' I looked back to Booth who had just walked into the lab. He pointed to the pointed to the pile of dusty bones on the lab table and tried to brush the dust off his dark suit.

'What the hell is that?' he asked staring at the remains.

'They just arrived from Egypt. A group of archaeologists came across them last week in The Valley of The Kings and they were sent here for me to examine'.

'Exciting' he muttered taking his eyes off them. 'But I think they're gonna have to wait just a while longer. We have a case'.

'Booth! It's very important that I examine these and get them back to Egypt as soon as possible!'

'Bones, they've been hanging around in Egypt for a long time by the looks of them. Another couple days won't hurt'.

'Fine. But don't call me Bones.'' I muttered, pulling off my gloves. Truth be told, there was no hurry in relation to these remains, just any excuse to argue with him. For some reason I had been doing that a lot lately. 'What do we have?'

He clapped his hands together and grinned

'Aliens'.

'What –_aliens?_ Come on, Booth, seriously!'

He looked hurt, his brown eyes widening

'Wh – I am serious! Got a call this morning from a farmer in West Virginia. Says he found what he describes as an alien pod in one of his fields. But get this – '

His eyes twinkled 'There's_ real aliens inside!'_

I laughed and punched him lightly on the arm.

'Agent Booth, if you're wasting my time on some ridiculous farmer's claim when I could be spending my time with these – 'gesturing towards the bones '– there will be hell to pay'

'When do I ever waste your time?' Taking me by the arm be propelled me from the lab and outside towards his SUV.

'Why can't I drive?'

'Bones, I drive. I'm the man. And this is a big machine'

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes he was so macho it was ridiculous.

'And what do you need this 'big machine' for, anyway? It's probably burning its own hole in our O-zone layer as we speak'

He looked at me incredulously 'Wh – _Bones!_ Are you kidding? I _need_ this bad boy! You see all those lights and gadgets?' he pointed to the dash '- that's what we catch the bad guys with'

'But those are the indicators…'

He looked at me 'You sometimes lack imagination. You know that? Plus I think that this vehicle is very me. Big, nice to look at, strong. Like a man's truck'

'You really are sad sometimes'

'Yes, but I'm big, nice to look at and strong, Bones. A man's man'.

'Don't call me Bones'

'Whatever you say, Bones'.

About five minutes later his phone rang.

'Booth'

I looked over at him and saw his expression darken.

'Yes…yes, sir…ok, we'll be there soon'. He flipped it shut and turned to me

'What is it?' I asked

'We gotta drop the alien case for now. FBI forensics are gonna drop the whole thing into the lab tomorrow. We have something else to do' His expression darkened and he turned back to stare at the road.

'Are you going to tell me what it is?'

He sighed before continuing

'About three years ago I dealt with a case where we found three young women tied up, with their eyes removed. They were savaged by dogs. The main suspect was Richard Hollings, all the evidence pointed to him but we couldn't get anything solid enough to present in court, and he got away with it.' He paused

'They just found another girl in the park'.

'All of the victim's skin has been removed as a result of wild dogs. Eye sockets are empty but as of yet it is impossible to determine what weapon was used. Due to lacerations visible on the ribs, arms and legs it would seem that the flesh was cut to…make it more appetising for the dogs'

I felt nauseous as I spoke into my recorder. The body was a mess, only some flesh left on the skeleton. From what I could see the victim had been a girl of no more that twenty-five, possibly younger. I closed my eyes, trying to escape the visions of what she had gone through before she had died. The only thing that brought me a small ounce of comfort was that she had been shot at close range through the back of the head before she had been mutilated.

I felt a hand on the small of my back and didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

'You ok?' he asked softly. I rubbed a hand over my eyes and turned to him, nodding.

'Yes, fine…she was so young…'

'Son of a bitch' he muttered through gritted teeth 'that bastard should have been locked up years ago'. I looked up at him and I could see the guilt and anger boiling in his dark eyes. He always blamed himself in situations like this.

Back at the lab I called for Hodgins and Zack.

'Hodgins, I need you to examine the dog excrement and see if there's anything there that could help us'

'_Great…'_ he muttered turning away.

'Zack, if you could clean the bones and try to determine what instrument was used to gouge out the eyes'.

'Hey sweetie…what do we have?' Angela came walking over and hugged me before seeing what lay on the table behind me and putting her hand over her mouth.

'Oh my God…'

I shook my head. 'I know. A girl. Mutilated and eaten by dogs…'

Angela's expression hardened. 'What can I do?' she asked

I smiled at her and hugged her tightly. I knew how much this kind of case upset her.

'If you could get a facial reconstruction and then an I.D., that would be great'

'Done' she smiled at me and headed back to her office.

Five hours later I had helped clean the bones, and identified the victim with Angela. As we were in her office, her at the computer and me looking over her shoulder, Booth walked in.

I turned to him and handed him a picture of a young dark haired girl.

'Katie Kent. 20 years old. She was a law student at American'

He took the picture and studied it for a few more moments before handing it back to me.

'You squints find anything else?'

I walked past him and gestured for him to follow me. Swiping my card I lead him up onto the platform where the skeleton was lying on a steel table.

I gently picked up the skull and pointed to the empty eye sockets.

'You see here? The jagged marks?'

He nodded, but looked lost. I had to smile just a little , that look he got on his face when me or one of my team or 'squints' tried to explain something complex to him was incredibly cute, even though I would never admit it. I continued.

'This mark is sharp but as I said, jagged. Maybe it was made by some kind of a pocket knife. One with a nick.'

He straightened up, and propelled me forward with his hand on my back.

'Where are we going?' I asked in surprise.

'We're going to have a little talk with Richard Hollings'.

Ten minutes later we were standing outside an apartment door on the other side of town.

Booth knocked and a man with short receding hair opened.

'Agent Booth' he said with a cold smile 'Long time no talk'.

'Shut up, Hollings. I got you this time. You gonna invite us in?' his voice was low and threatening.

'Of course' Hollings stepped aside to allow us entry. One inside Booth stood protectively in front of me.

'This you're new _colleague?' _Hollings asked looking at me, his voice holding a slight sneer.

'Don't talk to her' Booth growled. I saw a penknife lying on the coffee table in front of me and pulling on a pair of gloves, picked it up to examine it.

'It's clean. No nicks' Booth gestured for me to follow him into the other room. It was an office type room with three shelves on the right packed tightly with glass jars full of keys.

'You can't take those without a warrant' Hollings murmured as Booth rifled through them with a pen he took from the inside pocket of his jacket.

'See now that's just not true' he said turning around, holding out one particular key on his pen 'because this is a Federal lock-up key that says 'Do not Duplicate'.'

Hollings stiffened as Booth pulled out his mobile.

'Call in forensics. I have a key collection that I want transferred to the Jeffersonian for examination'.

Later that night, with no leads on the keys I slumped down at my office desk and switched on my computer. There was an IM from DavidG, a guy that I had been talking to on the net from a site that Angela told me about. He seemed nice; he had sent me a picture of himself – tallish, well – built (but not like Booth…what did that have to do with it?) and with blue eyes. Although I had always preferred brown eyes, dark expressive one's like Booth's, sometimes I could tell what he was thinking by just looking at him…

'Hey Bones! Want to get food?'

Speak of the devil. There he was, standing in the doorway, his broad, muscular frame blocking most of the light from behind him. He looked tired. His white shirt was undone at the top and one of his crazy trademark ties hung loose around his neck.

'Err…yeah, sure…' I tried to exit the IM session but not fast enough.

'_Please_ don't tell me you're internet dating, Bones' he said incredulously, looking over my shoulder 'and you're meeting this guy? Tonight?'

Prickling, I retaliated.

'This is a perfectly rational way for someone who works as much as I do to meet people! I mean, it's not like I get much time to socialise lately! What's wrong with that?' I asked defensively.

'Bones, you don't even know this guy! He could be a serial killer for all you know! I mean how much do you know about him?'

I shrugged 'I know that he's a lawyer with a firm downtown, has an apartment on the West Side, and has a dog named Rex. _Not _really serial killer material'

Booth threw his hands up in the air. 'Fine' he said loudly 'What do I care. Have a nice dinner'. With that he stormed out and past Angela who was on her way in.

'What's got to him?' she asked perching herself on the side of my desk.

'Beats me' I muttered.

'Y'know, sometimes he is just…' she shivered visibly with a smile on her face and looked at me. '

'What?' she asked with a grin 'You don't think so?'

'He's just being childish' I muttered 'He's mad coz I'm going on a date with David, the guy I was telling you about'

Angela shrugged. 'Y'know, he's just trying to protect you. If _I_ were you and Agent HotStuff wanted to track my every move, I wouldn't be complaining.'

I stayed silent.

'Come on' she continued 'I mean you have a ready-made knight in white shining FBI standard issue armour at your every beck and call. Cut the guy some slack'

I smiled. 'Well, I guess so. I mean, I suppose he means well…'

Two hours later I was walking up the street to the restaurant where I was to be meeting David, when my phone rang. Digging it out of my bag I answered. It was him.

'Hey, I was just ringing to tell you that I'm kind of stuck in traffic and might be a bit late. So you didn't think I was standing you up'

'That's fine' I answered 'I'm just two doors down. I'll see you soon.'

I went to put it back into my bag and dropped it on the ground. Muttering a swear word under my breath I bent down to pick it up. As I did I heard a loud crack and something whooshed past my head, barely missing me. I heard screams and instinctively ducked behind a car, until the rain of bullets stopped.

'Booth is on his way in. He's furious that you left the scene on your own before he got there. Sweetie, are you sure I can't get you anything? Angela looked concerned. All the team did. They were standing around me looking worried. Camille pressed a cup of hot coffee into my hand with a smile.

'Thanks, Cam' I said reciprocating her smile and sipping the coffee.

'Guys, I'm fine. It was just a few bull- '

Suddenly the lab doors crashed open.

'BONES! _I-TOLD-YOU-TO-WAIT-FOR-ME-AT-THE-SCENE! WHAT THE HELL? ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?'_

Booth stormed past the security guards and into the lab without swiping his access card and set off all the alarms.

'_Aww, will someone shut those off_?' He roared behind him. I sighed. He was ridiculous when he got this worked up.

'Booth, calm down…'

'DON'T YOU TELL _ME_ TO CALM DOWN! I SPECIFICALLY _TOLD YOU-_ '

'Yes, well guess what?' I shouted back 'You can't tell me what to do! And can you please stop SHOUTING AT ME!'

'_What am I supposed to do, Bones?' _he hissed at me, his face red from anger_ 'Well done for nearly getting yourself killed?'_ He paused, breathing heavily.

'Ok, I'm sorry' I muttered. 'But it was just a few bullets…'

His jaw dropped open 'Just a few _bullets?'_

I raised my hands 'Ok, Booth! Calm down. What do we do now?'

'We – we question people!' he spluttered

'Like _who, _exactly?'

'Your _date, _that's who!'

'Booth, he was caught in traffic – '

'I don't care if he was on the _moon, _Bones! I want him in here now! Get him in here now!' He turned and pounded off leaving me and the rest of the team in shock.

'Dude, _chill…'_ muttered Hodgins.

An hour later I was standing outside the interrogation room waiting for Booth to arrive with my date. At last I saw him coming down the hall being followed by a man that I knew was David.

'Temperance!' he said as he reached me 'you're picture doesn't do you justice!'

'Neither does yours' I answered with a smile and walked behind him into the room when I saw Booth rolling his eyes.

'Sit down, Mr Allan' Booth said as he closed the door

'Where were you tonight at approximately 7.25pm?'

'I was on my way to meet Dr. Brennan at a restaurant in town…hey, I'm so sorry about what happened to you' he said, turning his attention away from Booth to me.

'That's ok,' I said with a smile 'It was nothing'

'_Bones'_

'Interesting first date' David continued with a grin.

'Quite. Maybe next time we could – '

'Bones, can I talk to you? _In private?'_

I smiled apologetically at David and followed Booth out of the room.

'Bones, I'm trying to interrogate a suspect. That's sort of difficult with you _hitting on him!'_

'He's my date!' I answered back angrily

'And he's my suspect!' he turned around and headed back into the room.

'Well that 'interrogation' was pretty unproductive' I muttered in the SUV as Booth drove me home.

'Just doin' my job, Bones, just doin' my job'

'Does your job entail orchestrating the demise of my social life?' I shot back

He shrugged. 'If that's what it takes to keep you safe, then yes' he answered smugly.

What is with him? I wondered. Ever since he found out that I was going on a date with David, he'd been acting strange.

When we reached my apartment he followed me inside, and walked around surveying the room. We had dropped in to his place and he had changed clothes from his usual suit to a pair of jeans and a fitting blue T – shirt bearing the slogan 'I did an I.Q. test and the results were negative'. He had also brought a fresh suit for the morning as he insisted on sleeping on my couch just in case. I couldn't help but smile as I watched his muscular form prowl around; his movement's fluid, silent and quick. Obviously honed during his days as a trained sniper in Iraq, something we didn't talk about. He still felt a tremendous amount of grief over the amount of people he had killed during the war. He used his position in the FBI as penitence. He feels that if he can catch enough bad guys here, he will be forgiven for previous actions. I got the feeling that a lot more had happened in Iraq, to him, but he never spoke of it

'Ok, stay away from the windows. Anyone could get a clear shot from the surrounding buildings'. His expression changed and he grinned and slapped his hands together.

'Alright, where's the TV?' I laughed. 'Behind you'

'Nice job, Bones' he said walking over to the ridiculously big television that I had bought a couple of months ago for no reason. It's not like I ever get the chance to watch it.

'Want a beer?' I asked as he sat down and clicked over the channels until resting on sports. He looked up 'Yeah, sure. No, sit – 'he said as I moved toward the kitchen '– I'll get it. You relax'. He walked toward the kitchen and I smiled, settling down on the couch.

Suddenly there was a deafening explosion from the kitchen. I jumped up and instinctively grabbed the heavy woollen throw lying on the couch. I ran for the kitchen. To my horror the whole room was in flames…and then I saw Booth. Lying unconscious on the ground, underneath the burning fridge door. 'Booth!' I cried out, throwing myself to the floor beside him. Instantly I stamped out the flames on his chest with the blanket and pushed away the fridge door, burning my hands and wrist. But I didn't notice the pain. He was just lying there still…I put my hands on the sides of his face 'Booth' I whispered 'wake up…' when he didn't move I dragged my cell out of my pocket and called 911, screaming for an ambulance.

I waited in the hospital for two hours before they would let me see him. At last I walked into his room. 'Hey, Bones' he said with a smile, trying to sound cheerful but grimacing at the effort, obviously seeing the worried look on my face. I was glad that I had been to the bathroom to re-apply my make-up so he didn't see the tear marks that had stained my face.

'Hey' I said hoarsely, sitting on the chair beside his bed. 'How are you feeling?'

He was sitting upright, a cast on his left arm, bandages encircling his broad chest and another smaller bandage on the side of his head.

'Not so bad, considering' he answered with one of his charm grins.

'Shut up…' I muttered with a weak smile 'you scared the hell out of me…'

'Sorry…' suddenly my cell rang. It was David.

'Hey, Temperance! It's David. Want to go to a movie tonight if I'm not still under suspicion, that is?'

I paused and looked over at Booth who was valiantly trying to pretend he wasn't listening. I couldn't leave him.

'Actually I'm kind of tired, maybe another night?'

He agreed and I snapped my cell shut.

Booth looked over 'Y'know, Bones, if you want to go out with internet guy, go ahead. I'll be fine he added' I smiled. 'No, it's ok. You're more important…right now' I added quickly. He smiled back. 'Wanna watch some TV?' he asked with a laugh and I couldn't help but laugh too, even though tears were forming in the corners of my eyes again.

'Temperance…' he surprised me by using my first name and not his usual nickname. But I couldn't look at him. I just couldn't. Gently he put his fingers under my chin and lifted it up. I could hardly make out his form through my tears. And then he wiped away my tears with his thumbs. I choked out a sob 'Seeley…I thought you were dead…' and then the dam broke and I cried like I hadn't done for years. Sobs ripped through my body causing me to shake and he suddenly pulled me onto the bed as if I weighed nothing and cradled me in his arms, stroking my hair. I clung onto him, never wanting him to let go. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes, although to me it wasn't long enough. When my sobs eventually subsided, I lifted my head up and smiled weakly, a little embarrassed at my show of emotion. 'I'm sorry…' I whispered. He gently pulled my face around to his.

'It's ok' he said softly 'Everything's ok'.

And then we looked at each other, our eyes meeting. I couldn't figure out the huge emotion I saw in his deep expressive eyes, but I hoped the emotion in mine didn't show. Suddenly the door opened and a nurse walked in 'Oh I'm sorry' she said blushing 'I just came to administer Agent Booth's painkillers' I nodded and slid off the bed and back into the chair, feeling drained and confused. I looked up to see the nurse doling out pills into Booth's hand, along with a glass of water. But he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at me and I couldn't face whatever it was in his eyes so I looked away, wiping my face with my hand.

'Booth, I think I'm gonna go to the lab…sleep there…Zack's working so I won't be alone. If you need anything…' but again I couldn't look at him and I couldn't finish my sentence so I turned and left out of frustration.

That night I didn't sleep. While awake my thoughts were dominated by the moment we had shared in the hospital, my tears, his hands on my face, the look in his eyes that I couldn't figure out…and when I tried to sleep all I could hear was the explosion and the paralyzing terror I had felt when I saw him just lying there bleeding…

Sooner than I knew it was eight in the morning and there was a soft knock on my door.

'Come in' I called wearily. It was Angela. She looked worried.

'Sweetie…oh my god…I only just found out now, Zack and Hodgy told me. Are you ok?' I nodded, trying to smile. 'I'm fine. Booth…he's in hospital…he has a fractured arm, two cracked ribs, concussion…it should've been me, Angie, not him'.

'Honey, don't say that! Booth would never forgive himself if something happened to you. He really cares about you'

I looked up at her 'You think?' She smiled impishly 'I _know_'.

Later that day I decided to go see Booth in the hospital. I bought him some of the car magazines he liked, newspapers, and his favourite pie from Sid's. I went home first and changed out of my suit to a pair if fitted black jeans and a plum coloured woollen v-neck. I even re-did my make up and let down my dark hair that had been tied up all day so that it waved and curled around my shoulders. Some earrings and I was set, even though I didn't know why I was dressing up for Booth.

When I got there I knocked softly on the door. He looked up and smiled when I entered.

'Hey Bones' For some reason I wished he had called me Temperance again.

'Hey yourself' I answered smiling as best I could. 'Feeling better?'

'Considerably. What you got there?'

'Presents' I answered with a grin, placing the items on the table.

'Aww, Bones! That's fantastic! And my favourite pie' he smiled

I laughed 'Especially for you'.

Just then the door opened and another man stepped in. He was tall and fair-haired.

'Bones, this is Agent Montgomery. He's been working on Hollings about as long as I have'

'Dr. Brennan' he said with a smile, extending his hand 'Pleased to meet you'

'Nice to meet you, too' I answered shaking his hand.

'Anyway…' I turned back to Booth 'I'd better be going, wait any longer and I won't have a chance of getting a cab'.

'Hey I'll drive you if you like' Montgomery offered

'No, it's ok…'

Booth shook his head 'Bones, you should go with him. I'd feel better of you weren't alone'

I conceded. 'Ok, then that would be great. Seeley, I'll see you tomorrow' he nodded 'Sure thing, Bones. You take care of her, Monty'

Montgomery nodded 'Will do, Booth'.

Once in the car we talked mostly about work. Suddenly my cell rang.

'Brennan...hey, Zack…really? Good work. I'll be there soon'

'They found what made those jagged marks on the eye sockets; it was one of the keys. We now have enough for a solid conviction. Agent Montgomery is there any chance you could drop me by the lab?'

I looked up from my bag only to be met with the dark barrel of a gun pointed at my face. My mouth dropped open.

'Booth didn't lie' he growled holding the gun steady 'You really are the best. Shame I have to kill you' I saw him lift the gun and then I felt shooting pain and there was nothing but darkness.

When I woke up my head hurt and my ears were ringing. It took me a couple of seconds to register my surroundings and then I realised that I was in some kind of warehouse. To my terror two black growling dogs were harnessed to the wall opposite me. My mind raced…what had happened? And then I remembered Montgomery hitting me with the butt of his gun.

'Nice to see you're awake, Dr. Brennan. I considered killing you quickly but that wouldn't be much fun now, would it?'

'Why are you doing this?' I asked trying to keep my voice steady and not show fear.

He laughed cruelly. 'Well I suppose the fact that you'll be dead before you get the chance to tell anyone means it doesn't matter what you know'. He stood up and walked toward me, squatting down to face me.

'You've been a pain in my ass for some time, Dr Brennan' he growled 'Not two months ago you put my good friend and boss Paolo Cugini on Death Row…that's just not nice'

He's working for the mob I thought frantically. What he said was true…I had provided the evidence necessary to put mob boss Cugini behind bars.

'I figured we'd have a little fun' he said pulling a pen knife and a small bronze key from his pocket 'maybe re-enact one of your present cases'. Suddenly it all came together…he was going to feed me alive to the dogs, and gouge out my eyes with the key…

At this point I knew I should be terrified, screaming and begging, but all I could think about was Booth. '_He'll save me. I know he will._ I also began to think about all the times I could have told him how I felt about him and didn't…I was so afraid that he wouldn't feel the same way and our friendship would be damage beyond repair. I struggled but it was no use. I was kneeling on the floor with my hands tied together and hooked around a harness that extended from the ceiling. Montgomery spoke again.

'Well, Dr. Brennan, it's been a pleasure _but your time is up' _with that he raised the knife toward me and I closed my eyes and tried to imagine that I was with Booth, and not alone preparing to die. Suddenly there was a shot and on feeling no pain I opened my eyes to see the room swarming with FBI agents. Suddenly I saw him. He was holding his gun straight ahead of him having shot Montgomery. He was wearing jeans and a hoodie, and wincing in pain as he tried to get to me as fast as possible.

'Bones!' He dropped to his knees in front of me. 'Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I should've known…' he was struggling to untie my arms 'I'm ok' I breathed and suddenly began to cry at the sheer relief of him being there to rescue me when I needed him the most. He let out a low pitched growl and put his head through my arms so that they were around his neck, and lifted me from the hook. The weight was too much for him in his weakened state and we both fell to the ground. With my arms still tied around his neck I hugged him desperately, and we clung to each other. 'Aren't you supposed to be in hospital?' I whispered in his ear inhaling his scent of cologne, hair gel, and Booth. He let go of me and looked up with a wince 'Yeah, Hodgins gave me a ride…maybe you can take me back?' he asked with a pained expression on his face, before crying out in pain and resting his head on my shoulder. I laughed and hugged him again.

Two nights later I decided to call over to Booth's apartment. He'd been discharged from the hospital that day and I hadn't had the chance to see him since. I called into our favourite Thai place and got a take-away and I also had some cold beers in the car.

There were butterflies in my stomach all the way there. It was weird, I mean I spent nearly all day every day with this man…we were just going to have dinner. And then a thought came to me. Six months ago I had broken up with a boyfriend. He had been an acquaintance of Booth, and was also an FBI agent. After we had broken up I had met him in town one day and we had gone for coffee.

'_I now know that it was probably a good idea for us to break up' _he had said, surprising me and when I asked why, the answer was even more surprising.

'_Because even though I could date you, sleep with you, hell, marry you, you would always be Seeley Booth's girl'_

Maybe that's true, I thought.

When I knocked at the door he answered almost straight away. He was wearing a pair of jeans, and a black t-shirt underneath a black shirt. His hair was tousled, instead of neatly gelled as it usually was and he had a stubble shadow around his jaw. He looked good.

'Hey' he said as he opened the door smiling. 'Good to see you, thought you'd disappeared' he held the door open and I walked inside.

'I know, I'm sorry. I was just so busy at the lab, and Angela was so upset by the whole thing…she said to tell you that she's gonna kick your ass when you get back for letting Hodgins come with you on the raid.'

He laughed 'Hey, Hodgins loved it'

'I know' I muttered with a smile, 'he's playing hero around the lab. So – you hungry? I brought Thai food. And beer.'

'You read my mind, I'm starving'.

While we ate our meal, him sitting on the couch and me cross-legged on the floor at his feet, we talked about work and laughed when I told him how Zach and Hodgins had nearly blown up the lab the day before with one of their ridiculous experiments.

After dinner we sat in comfortable silence for a while and drank our beers. Suddenly he spoke.

'I was so afraid I'd be too late to save you the other day' he said quietly.

I looked up at him, pushing the hair out of my eyes. 'But you weren't. You were just in time .Like always.' I smiled and expected him to but he didn't.

He shook his head 'I just can't imagine what I would have done if I had been too late…it's like a nightmare'

'Booth…' I put my hand softly on his lap 'its ok, I'm here…safe. Because of you. You're my partner, and you saved me'.

Suddenly he put his head in his hands and spoke in a voice that sounded both broken and full of emotion.

'I don't want to be your work partner anymore…' the words hit me like a brick wall…what had I done? He didn't want to be near me anymore? Suddenly I felt like I couldn't breathe and for the third time that week hot tears welled up in my eyes.

I looked at my lap, feeling as though to see his face would kill me.

'I want to be your partner in everything…I want to be the one you wake up to, the one you come home to…I want to be the one you tell all your fears to and the one to hold you at night…I'm sorry but I can't help it…I've tried to help it but I just can't stop loving you'

Suddenly my tears came faster except this time they were not tears of sorrow. He loves me…

'Seeley, I love you'

For a few seconds the words hung there and I looked up to see Booth slowly lift his head from his hands, and look at me with a look I'd never seen before.

And then he reached down and pulled me onto his lap, like he had done in the hospital, like I was a rag doll…he put his fingers under his chin so that I was facing him and wiped away my tears.

'_I love you so much…'_ he whispered before wrapping his strong arms around me and kissing me like I had often wished he would. He held onto me tightly and I gave in to him, and ran my fingers through the soft hair at the back of his neck.

When we broke apart I couldn't help but smile and he pulled me into his chest and held me there.

'I never thought this would happen…' he said in amazement 'I always thought you'd kick my ass and refuse to work with me…'

I kissed him again, unable to get any closer but needing more. 'I love you, Seeley…I couldn't live without you'.

'Temperance…you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. I love you so much'.

A couple of hours later, still entangled up in each other and breathless from kissing I leaned back and looked at him coyly.

'Y'know the way Angela always says that when we're together the air 'crackles with sexual tension'?'

He grinned, clearly knowing where I was going with this.

'Yes…'

'Want to go relieve some of that 'tension'?' With that he swooped me up into his arms and carried me laughing into his bedroom.

I woke up the next morning with my face nestled in his neck. He smelled great. I smiled and touched his lips with my finger. His eyes opened lazily, and he smiled back and kissed me softly.

'Morning. I missed you' I laughed 'I've been here all that. Surely you remember _last night?'_

He laughed and gathered me up in his arms, kissing me.

'Oh I remember last night' he said 'I missed you when I was sleeping'

'You're a charmer, Agent Booth'

'_Ob_-viously' I swatted him, giggling.

'Race you to the shower?'

'Hey, what are you gonna tell the Squints?' the question startled me.

'I never even thought of that…'I murmured.

'I say we tell them' He looked at me questioningly. I smiled.

'Sure. We'll tell them…I think they'll be happy for us'

'Or they might turn and kill me'

'Maybe'.

As we walked into the lab together, Booth suddenly took my hand in his and entwined his fingers through mine. I looked up at him and smiled. As we entered Zach came over and started talking about a subdural haematoma, not noticing any difference.

'Or they won't notice' muttered Booth in my ear.

'Oh. My. God. Are you guys holding hands?'

Angela looked speechless but then squealed and ran over to hug us.

'Guys! I thought it would never happen! Booth, kiss her!'

I looked at her in shock

'Well, I have to make sure!'

I looked up at Booth and he shrugged his shoulders and then wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. I hear Hodgins clapping and Angela squealing. When he stopped he suddenly put his hand on my butt and gave it a light squeeze.

'Booth!' I laughed.

He looked at Angela. 'See now _that_ proves that we're together. Under any other circumstances, I would be unconscious'.


End file.
